Running for what it's worth
by the-Wake-just-after-Midnight
Summary: When Tragedy strikes the Harry Potter crew are left to pick up the pieces. Ron buries himself in her hobbies and alienates the only people he cares about, Harry quits the quiditch team, and Hermione finds herself at odds with all her friends.
1. 1st of few

Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter, cause I'm not Jk Rowling. And "I HOPE YOU DANCE" is By Lee Ann Womack, not me. it was Last Corrected by: , sorry if they mussed the lyrics.

Dedicated to my cousin, she's a year younger than me and has just been diagnosed with a muscular disease and may never dance again.

Running for what it's worth.

Chapter One

It was raining. Water droplets poured down Ronald Weasley's back. He was not a person of normally great athletic skills so running around the Quitich pitch was very peculiar. He was freezing cold but ran anyway. His mind was not, surprising, on the path he was making in the dirt by running around the course the seven times he had without stopping, or the fact he might catch pneumonia. His mind was focused on one of the windows that was set into the castle stone. The one that led into the hospital wing.

His robes were drenched and weighing him down. He took them off and tossed them into a heap on the outskirts of his muddy path; then ran in his favorite white T-shirt and sopping jeans. This had become almost religious behavior to him. He would run every day, rain or shine, with or without any friends.

Hermione watched from her window. Ron's behavior over the last month had bothered her into stopping her studies for the moment. She thought about where she had been twenty-nine days earlier right at this moment.

She had been studying. Harry and Ginny were practicing Quitich with the other members of their team, and Ron was in bed "Sick". He was really writing letters to her and studying, both practices he had given up that day.

'It just isn't fair how the best people go through the worst things.' Her mind switched to Draco. _'Take him for example, he's the most spoiled git in the school but yet he can get away with anything. Harry could hardly get away with living.'_ She put her hand on her forehead and wept. How many times had she done that recently? _'Three times a day at least._

Gryffindor my foot, I should be a Ravenclaw.'

Ron's heart pounded. Even breathing began to hurt. His lips were dry and he could swear he tasted blood on them. But he figured it to be sweat.Then he recited his "prayer".

****

"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger

May you never take one single breath for granted

God forbid love ever leave you empty handed"

He smiled faintly at the words. He always felt comforted when they slipped off his tongue and were lost in the downpour of emotion and thoughts.

"May you never take one single breath for granted." It fit right now. He was on the verge of not breathing. He had pushed himself so hard over the last month that every breath he had to work hard for. It was impossible to take anything for granted right now, thats way he ran. It made his body feel broken and be on the verge of it too.

"I wish I could have been there. I wish I could have saved you. It's just not right that I'm awake and you. . . it's just not right." He mumbled the words as he thought them. He finally let his body summit to the strain, and collapse.

Hermione didn't see it though. She had decided to go out there and run too. It was the right thing to do. To support Ron. She walked down the stairs. They began to turn in the general direction of away from the exists.

"Damn it! I would be swearing worse if I didn't have a conscious!" She screamed it again and again in the hopes that the brainless stairs would get the message; which they didn't.

"Mudblood, why in the bloody hell are you screaming in my ear for?" She just repeated what she had "Screamed" in his ear only directed toward him this time. He glared at her. He had apparently gotten on the stair case when it had stopped turning.

"Get outta my way, ferret boy!" She spat the words out at him in disgust.

"Say it, don't spray it." He began to wipe the spit off his robes treating it like poison. She merely shoved him to the side and ran down the stairs before they moved again.

Hermione was now on a very familiar corridor. The one that had been off limits their first year. This only made her depressed. It was the year Ginny wasn't here. She shoved it in the back of her mind with excessive force and ran off down the halls.

She leaped down stairs, which didn't even budge, and sprinted down the hall. She nearly ran into several first years who screamed in utter terror. As she ran to the main gate she could hear the voices of several familiar Slytherins laughing at the young wizards who were gaping at her back.

She pushed against the door and with great strain opened it. she ran out into the rain and the Slytherins began to snicker again. Her hair turned black as it fussed with more water. It also flattened. Her lips were re-hydrated and she was actually quite pretty.

She turned the corner and the field came into view. She stood at one end and waited patiently for Ron. After ten minutes she decided that he had probably taken a break on the other side. She jogged in the opposite direction she'd seen him run so that if he started again she wouldn't have to play catch up.

Hermione screeched to a halt when she saw Ron face down in the mud. She was stunned.

"RON!" She could feel her heart stop. _'Not again, I knew this couldn't be good. I was right to worry. It happened once, but I'm here this time. But it's so hard to stand here and watch your eyes go blank and cold. Just, live.'_

Hermione ran over and held his close. "Ron, please wake up. You SELFISH bastard, wake up! She wouldn't want you to get hurt! She wanted you to live!" Ron shivered in her arms. "You're such an idiot Ron. You really are." He opened his eyes slowly.

"I feel unloved." He faintly smiled at her and she just shook her head in disbelief.

"She told you to live you're life for her sake, not to waste it for her."

"She told me to take risks. You know she used to always run. It was her favorite pastime before she learned how to ride a broom."

"I know. But that's not what she meant. She didn't want you to run because she couldn't, Ron. She wanted you to speak up for who you are. To be bold. To ask that certain girl to dance with you. To be _brave_."

"Her first year of Hogwarts, she used to pass me notes about when you were gonna be her sister in law."

"She WHAT?" Ron just laughed slightly.

"Yeah, she's a hopeless romantic. And of course you could never be with _Harry_ in her mind; she liked him too much for that." Hermione just beamed him an empty smile. "I hurt in places that don't exist. I want. . . to sleep now." His eyes began to shut again.

"As long as you don't have a concussion. Wait, Ron, I need your help to get you back to the castle. Ron, did you hear me. I didn't bring my wand. Wake UP!"

Hermione began to shake him viciously, but the only movement he made was allowing a lone water droplet to cascade down the bridge of his nose. She sat in despair with Ron sprawled unconscious across her lap. She softly wiped water from his freckled cheeks.

"What am I gonna do now. He's so heavy." She allowed the silence to take over for a moment. She was soaked to the bone. The moon began to rise and she put her head down on Ron's chest. Then all went blank and time faded into sleep.

****

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger

May you never take one single breath for granted

God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens

Promise me that you'll give fate the fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

I hope you dance

Hermione opened her eyes to see light coming through the window. It didn't even occur to her that she hadn't fallen asleep indoors. The light hurt her eyes and she placed her arm across them as she squinted.

"Good morning Miss Granger. It's good to see you're finally awake. Now I would like to ask you a few questions."

"Alright Madam Pomfrey. What are they?"

"First, how are you feeling today?"

"I'm feeling fine, but confused."

"That's understandable. Why were you and Mr. Weasley outside so late last night? Sleeping on top of each other?"

"He was running in the rain, and I went outside to run with him. When I got out there, he had collapsed. I couldn't get him inside. I must've collapsed too."

"That was very foolish of you. You should have come inside and gotten help."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"All is forgiven, you're alive. Now for the last question. . . WHERE'S MY BROOM?!" Hermione's eyes widened at the question. She had stolen Harry's broom to keep him from burning it a week after the accident.

"Harry?"

"Yes. I can't believe you thought I was Pomfrey, now, where is it?"

"Why, you refuse to ride it anyway. You even quite the Quitich team. Good grief, you're as selfish as Ron." Hermione just crossed her arms and looked away.

"Why are you calling me selfish? Ginny almost died. I was there! Do you know what that does to someone? I never want to look at that broom again."

"Harry, that broom was your life. She didn't want you to throw that away for her. She wanted you to live."

"Did she tell you that before or after she went into a coma?"

"She told that to Ron. But I seem to be the only one who listened to anything she said! I'm the only one who hasn't given up what they were doing when she got hurt."

"You couldn't give up studying even if you wanted to."

"That's what I thought about you and Quitich."

"I was there. I thought she was gonna die. Just like all the others, it was my fault!" Hermione stared straight at him and whacked him upside the head.

"You're a fool!" She stood up and stormed out of the room leaving yet another wizard to gape at her back.

****

**A/N: This is not a one shot! Please review! Thank YOU! (there might be some romance later. Maybe)**

**I ran it through the spell checker again. It messed up the first time. Like I said, there will be another chapter. **


	2. 2nd of fewer

**Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter, cause I'm not Jk Rowling. And "I HOPE YOU DANCE" is By Lee Ann Womack, not me. It was Last Corrected by: , sorry if they mussed the lyrics.**

**Dedicated to my cousin, she's a year younger than me and has just been diagnosed with a muscular disease and may never dance again.**

**-----------------------------**

**Running for what it's worth. **

**Chapter Two**

"I was there. I thought she was gonna die. Just like all the others, it was my fault!" Hermione stared straight at him and whacked him upside the head.

"You're a fool!" She stood up and stormed out of the room leaving yet another wizard to gape at her back.

"Harry. . . what are you doin' here?" Ron stared at him and gave a faint half smile. Harry quickly spun around to face his best friend.

"I wanted my broom. Hermione blew up in my face and split." Harry motioned toward the door with his head.

"You too, eh? What's gotten into her, it's like she can't even let us be sad about it." Harry just shrugged.

"Don't look at me, I don't get um eigther. Hey Ron, I don't exactly. . ."

"Feel like talking to her big brother. I get that. I didn't exactly want to be around you after Sirius." Harry's face fell even more. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Wanna run?"

"I don't want to remember, any of it. Second year, fourth year, or last year. Why do people always DIE!" Ron's eyes flew open.

"What happened second year?" Ron wasn't always the brightest chap so add that on to him being dead tired, and he was down right stupid.

"Your sister got _posessed_."

"Oh yeah, sorry my mind is kind of. . . dead."

"Can we please not talk about this subject?" Harry was looking desperate now. It was sort of disheartening to see two more Gryffindors on the verge of tears.

"No. Sorry, but I have to talk to someone. Hermione has gone mad, you just want to forget, Ginny is in a coma and is the one causing my depression, and, oh yeah, there's Neville but that somehow doesn't make me feel any better. So since you're here, I'm confiding in you."

"Ron, can you answer me one question?"

"Why not. It's been awhile since I've really talked to you and Hermione so this might get interesting, just to warn you."

"Why is it that the people I care about the most always are the ones to pay?"

"So you blame yourself for what happened to my sister too? I know, I should have been out there with you guys instead of writing love letters, it was stupid. I should have been there."

"I was there and still did nothing. Do you even know exactly what happened?"

"No," he stated sheepishly, "no one will tell me what went down that night."

"I couldn't say even if I wanted to. I just can't bring myself to form the words; I've tried. Everytime I think about it my eyes roll into the back of my head and I can't think. My mind is unbearibly silent and blank. Just like this stupid room." Harry's fist clenched tightly. His eyes shot bits of fire at the walls as he fumed in frustration; as if blaming the room for the eternal silence in Ginny's head.

"Well if you think it would help we could always steal Ginny and take her to the common room, that place is never quiet. Maybe she'll wake up just to tell us to shut the hell up." Harry smiled lightly.

"Maybe I was wrong. I thought I could just end it with Voldemort and everyone would be safe. But he had nothing to do with what happened."

"Everyone takes pain differently, I want to live life in her memory. You want to forget. Hermione thinks we should just get over it."

"I want revenge. But I'm to blame, how do you take revenge upon yourself?"

"If that's what you want, I think you're doing a great job. but instead of burning your broom, can we burn hers, it cost less."

"And Sirius didn't buy it." Ron nodded in agreement.

--------------------------

Hermione stormed down the halls, making sure to trip any and all Slytherins in her path. Hermione wondered if it was rubbing a hole in her shoe for her to be scuffing her feet so hard on stone. 'Who cares? not me,' she thought.

Then she stopped dead in her tracks. 'Ginny didn't want this. Her last words were that we should live our lives the way we knew she would've. To be happy. She's not even dead and we've torn apart our world for her. If she could talk to me right now she would probably be yelling at my methods. If I'm ever gonna get them to let go they have to be around me, right? Duh.' And with that last apifany she trugged back down the corridor to the hospital wing.

---------------

The two boys sat there and discused a few things and the cold edges of the room seemed to soften abit.

"When did we become so distant?"

"The moment each of became ubsessed with ourselves. . ." Ron trailed off as Hermoine pushed open the door by leaning on it in a completely relaxed manner.

"...and our own pain. I'm sorry for yelling at you guys. It's just that Ginny told me that she wanted us to lean on each other for comfort and not to destroy who we used to be. We were the people she loved the most. I don't want to destroy those people. Oh, and Ron, very eloquently stated." She gave him a small smirk. It was awkardly returned. She took up a place on the corner of Ron's bed and Harry joined her.

"Anyone want to run?" asked Harry at last.

"Oh, yeah," replied Ron, face beaming.

"Ron, I don't think you should. . . " He leaned foreward and cupped his hand over her mouth.

"Ginny wanted us to live our lives right? That includes you Mione." He removed his hand reveiling her giggling face.

"Alright." She extended her hand and helped him out of bed. Their gazes shifted to each other's hospital wing attire and they began to blush.

"Harry can you hold that thought for twelve or minutes?"

"No I can't" he said sarcastically. In truth nothing had changed between them, the wounds were still their, eating at their souls.


End file.
